The Scent of Rain
by Searching For Escape
Summary: Due to some meddling spirits, Sumiko is transported to another world. Instead of benders they have ninja. Follow Sumiko as she lives her life in this new world. How will she affect things? Can she even change anything? OC alert! Mentions of AtLA world. Eventual romance. Read and review please?
1. Chapter 1

**This is something I've had in one of my numerous notebooks for a long time so I finally decided to post it. It starts off in the Avatar the Last Airbender world and then moves into the Naruto one. Some feedback would be nice. Enjoy!**

* * *

My name is Sumiko. My father was a waterbender from the Northern Water Tribe. His name was Koda. I didn't meet him until I was about three years old. The reason for this was that my mother Su was from the Fire Nation. Where I come from there was a great war going on between the fire nation and the other nations. It was the fire nation against everyone else.

I had a twin brother named Lee. At the age of three Lee had discovered his firebending abilities. I remember my mother being so proud of my brother that I tried to copy him. I wanted to be a firebender and make my mom happy too, but I wasn't a firebender. I took after my father and had the ability to bend water. Mother was horrified. She sent me all the way up north to live with my father. Now that I look back on it, I guess I'm glad my mother sent me away. If she didn't I wouldn't be where I am today.

I remember my father was somewhat relieved when he took in my appearance for the first time. I was pale skinned like my mother and most of the others in the fire nation but I had the eyes of a water tribe member. All members of the water tribe had blue eyes. I tried to live a normal life in the Northern Water Tribe but almost all of the children there teased me for being different. I later found out that the teasing was due to the fact that I wasn't one hundred percent water tribe. A lot of adults, mostly old people shunned me because I was a child born out of wedlock. The Northern Water Tribe was a stickler for traditions and the old ways. One of the few people who treated me kindly was the old woman who taught in the healing huts. I remember that I immersed myself in my studies and practiced the healing arts with the use of my waterbending.

By the time I was seven years old Karani, the woman who taught at the healing huts, said there was nothing else to teach me. I am forever thankful to her because it was with her help I was able to master healing at such a young age. Things in the village got better for me after that. They called me a prodigy. Even our chieftain said that no member of the tribe had ever mastered the healing arts at such a young age. I remember seeing the proud look on my fathers face when the chief had said that. I think that was the first time I had finally done something right in his eyes.

I had continued to help out old lady Karani at the healing huts. One day when all her other students had left she presented me with a scroll. It was a waterbending scroll. In my tribe women were forbidden to learn how to use their waterbending for anything other than healing. Karani had believed I had too much potential to waste, and her son thought the same. Her son, Hanook, was a waterbending master. He wasn't very happy to teach me, seeing as it went against tradition but he did it for his mother. He told me that we must keep our training a secret because if we were ever found out we would both be faced with horrible consequences. By the time I was nine Hanook had said that I had a thorough mastery of the basics and was now teaching me some advanced moves. His training was taxing, he would not teach me anything new until the move I was currently working on was perfect.

One day I was running an errand for Karani. Some of the men had gotten horribly wounded in an accident and it was enough for the old woman to request water from the sacred pool in the spirit oasis. My life changed forever that day. I remembered that as I approached the pool the two koi fish in the pond began to circle around each other. The two fish in the pond were rumored to be the physical manifestations of the moon and ocean spirits. I found out those rumors were true that day. As the two fish circled faster and faster the pool began to glow with a white light. The light began to engulf the entire oasis and a voice spoke.

"You are needed in a world different than this one child. The place we send you will be your home. Fight for your new home dear child, protect it and the people in it. You are needed to be a light in the dark. Be the light and do not let he who is shrouded in darkness get lost. This is your destiny." The voice boomed.

"You have our blessings child." the voice whispered as I remember being drawn into the place I now call home.

That was the end of my life in my old world and the beginning of my life in my new world.

* * *

Trees. There were trees everywhere. I had never seen so many trees in my life.

"Where am I?" I wondered out loud.

"You are in Konohagakure little girl. What are you doing here? Are you lost?" I looked up to the man who seemed to appear out of nowhere. He was dressed funny and had silver hair. He didn't look to be really old so maybe he was blessed by the moon spirit like princess Yue.

"Why is your hair silver?" I asked the man with a mask.

"Why is _your_ hair silver?" the man asked back. My eyes widened. My hair was silver now? I grabbed a piece of hair and brought it within my line of vision. Sure enough it was silver, but why?

"_You have our blessings child." _the voice rang in my head. Was I blessed by the moon and ocean spirits? It seemed that way.

"My hair used to be black." I answered him.

"Oh? Well mine's a family trait. Do you know where your family is little girl?"

I looked down and shook my head no. The man sighed.

"Well, let's get you to the Hokage's office." he spoke and mentioned for me to follow. I followed the masked man and as we were walking I heard a rumble in the sky. I looked up just in time to see a flash of lightning and have a drop of water fall onto my face. I quickly used my water bending and raised my arm to keep me and the silver haired man dry.

He looked up at the sky and then down at me. "How are you doing that?" he asked curiously.

"I'm a waterbender. Haven't you ever seen a waterbender before?" I responded.

"No I can't say I have. What's your name by the way kid?"

"My name is Sumiko. What's your name mister?" I asked back.

"Kakashi Hatake." he answered as we approached this huge building. We entered the building and made our way to the top.

"Lord Hokage, this child named Sumiko was found at the site of the flash of light. There's another thing too. She has this ability to control water without using chakra. She called herself-" he was cut off.

"A waterbender, yes." he paused for a moment. "Kakashi what will be said must be kept secret." the old man said. Kakashi hesitated before nodding.

"Of course Lord Hokage." As soon as the door shut the old man in the funny hat turned to me.

"Welcome to Konoha young water bender." he smiled warmly. I bowed to the man as a sign of respect. Kakashi had called him Lord so he must be someone important.

"Thank you sir. Though I am not quite sure where I am exactly. I was fetching water from the spirit oasis for my healing master when there was a bright light and voices. I think they were the ocean and moon spirits who spoke to me."

The old man leaned closer in interest. "What did they tell you young one?" he asked.

"They said I was needed here. They told me to fight for my new home. To protect it and the people in it." I spoke. The old man smiled once more.

"You are more than welcome here Sumiko. Do you indeed wish to protect Konoha?" he asked.

I nodded. "If it is what the spirits have asked of me I will gladly do all I can to protect this place." I answered confidently.

"Excuse me Lord Hokage but spirits?" Kakashi Hatake asked skeptically.

"There are a great many things in this universe that most people are unaware of. Other worlds so similar to ours, yet different. When I first became Hokage I was introduced to some of the wonders of the universe. Some of the spirits of this child's world were among them. It was the moon and oceans spirits that told me they would be sending a child of theirs to us in the future. Though I myself have limited knowledge of the workings of our universe I am wise enough to know that there are things beyond our understanding and we must always keep our minds open to the possibilities." he finished.

The younger man sighed. "Of course Lord Hokage."

The Hokage man turned back to me. "If you wish to protect this village you must learn to fight. You must become a ninja."

My eyes widened. "My tribe has forbidden women from learning any sort of combat. Is it not the same here?" I asked nervously. I really hoped it wasn't. If it wasn't maybe they wouldn't get mad at me for already knowing how to use my water bending for other purposes besides healing.

The old man chuckled. "Women are granted the same rights as men. We have many fine kunoichi that fight alongside our male shinobi."

I smiled. "Then yes! Yes I will become a ninja and do all I can to protect Konoha."

The Lord Hokage nodded and turned to Kakashi Hatake. "Kakashi, could you take Sumiko to one of the training grounds for an assessment of her abilities?"

Kakashi turned to me. "Are you okay to do this in the rain?" he asked. I nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course! Rain means water. This is great!"

* * *

We arrived at a training ground which was really just a big open space in the middle of a forest with some wooden posts scattered about.

"Alright now Sumiko, as a ninja you will need to be prepared to fight an enemy knowing that sometimes you may have to kill them."

I took a deep breath. "I understand." Hanook had told me stories of being faced with that scenario many times on the battlefield as we trained. He told me that death is sometimes necessary in order to protect yourself and others.

Kakashi's visible eye scrunched up like he was smiling behind his dark blue mask. "Very well, show me what you can do."

I immediately molded the water around me into a whip-like sort of weapon. I sent the water straight towards Kakashi's chest but he evaded the attack. My eyes widened and I gulped nervously. He's faster than anyone I've ever seen, I thought to myself. This isn't going to work. I need to change my strategy. I bended more of the water around me to form the octopus form. I used this as both an offense and a defense. I shut my eyes and listened to what was going on around me. I heard something coming from behind and raised one of the water tentacles behind me to block whatever was coming my way.

"Good job, but can you block this?" Kakashi made some weird hand movements and then all of a sudden a giant jet of water appeared and was heading straight for me. I was able to make the jet stop its advance and become a giant puddle of water, but I had to let my octopus form drop to do it. As soon as the water was no longer a threat I reset my octopus form.

"You managed to disrupt my jutsu. I think we're done here." Kakashi said. I dropped my defenses and bowed my head in apology.

"I apologize for my lack of combat skills Kakashi Hatake. I promise you though that I won't be completely useless. Right now I am much better suited as a healer than a fighter." I spoke meekly.

I felt a hand on my head. I looked up to face the silver haired man.

"You did plenty Sumiko. You are far from useless." he assured me. "How old are you?" he asked me.

"Nine years old." I answered shyly.

"You did exceptionally well for a nine year old Sumiko. Now let's get back to the Hokage to figure out where you'll be staying." he smiled.

* * *

**So that's the beginning. It gets better, I promise. Review please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I got a review much more quickly than I had anticipated ,and since I have a bit more already written out I decided to upload another chapter today. **

**Just in care anyone was wondering why Sumiko mastered healing so quickly I figured that if Pakku could consider Katara a master waterbender within the short time she spent there it wasn't so far fetched if Sumiko mastered healing in a few years. Even though she was pretty young she didn't really have anything else to do so she spent her time studying. Anyways, on to chapter 2!**

* * *

"Wake up Sumiko. If you don't leave now you'll be late for class."

I rolled out of bed and faced the person talking to me.

"Yeah, right, like you're never late for anything Kakashi." I yawned and went to the bathroom.

Kakashi had been my caretaker soon after I arrived here in Konoha about four years ago. He helped me catch up on the history and culture of this world. With his help I had soon become one of the top kunoichi in my class at the Ninja Academy. My strengths lied in taijutsu and weapon use. I was at the top of my class in these two subjects. I was second to a girl named Sakura Haruno in academics. I would have liked to be first in that too but that girl was just way too much for me. She was able to memorize everything with ease! Something I would never be able to do no matter how hard I studied. I was third in ninjutsu. Hinata Hyuga and Ino Yamanaka surpassed me in this. I was happy that Hinata was first. She was a very shy girl but I like her. I was mad however that Ino was beating me. Ever since she started with this crush on a boy by the name of Sasuke Uchiha she's been so mean! I was top of both boys and girls in the brief medical training we had. I picked up on medical ninjutsu like it was second nature probably due to the fact that I already had training in this field. My genjutsu sucked though. I wasn't able to create a half decent genjutsu to save my life, but I could at least identify and dispel simple ones. Kakashi says that's what really matters but I'm not sure I believe him. I think he was just trying to make me feel better.

Anyways today was graduation day at the Academy. I had made it four years in this world without anyone knowing about my waterbending besides Kakashi and the Hokage. Lord Hokage had told me not to use them at the Academy for some reason. It was okay with me though. Kakashi trained with me privately so my waterbending didn't get too rusty, so even though I couldn't use my bending I earned one of the top spots at the Academy. I was very proud of that and I think Kakashi was proud of me too.

After finishing my morning bathroom routine I braided my hair back and put on my ninja clothes. I kept it simple. A black form fitting turtle neck with no sleeves as my shirt and black ninja pants and sandals like the ones Kakashi wore. I didn't find it necessary to wear flashy colors, my silver hair stood out enough. The only special thing I wore were black finger-less gloves with a metal plate on it like Kakashi's. Once I was ready I headed toward the front door.

"Good luck Sumiko!" Kakashi called as I ran out the door.

* * *

*At class*

I took my seat near the window in one of the middle rows. Two boys named Choji and Shikamaru sat next to me.

"You missed it Sumiko! Naruto and Sasuke just kissed!" the bigger boy yelled.

My head popped up. "What?!"

I looked over to the boys who had been named. Naruto was on the floor looking beaten up and Sasuke was glaring at him.

I couldn't help but laugh. "I knew there had to be a reason the Uchiha never responded to any of the girls' advances." I joked. Choji began to laugh with me and Shikamaru snickered.

Iruka-sensei then called the class to order.

"Good morning everyone! Today is your graduation exam! One of you will be called into the next room. After you are done, you may leave! Okay, let's get started! Shino Aburame?" Sensei called.

One by one students were called into the room. While most came out of the room looking disappointed there were some that came out with their brand new headbands signifying they had become official ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village. Soon enough my name was called. "Sumiko Hatake?"

Kakashi let me use his last name since he became my legal guardian. I don't think that's usually done but Kakashi said it was okay. Besides we did kind of look alike with the silver hair and everything so we were able to pass as relatives.

I entered the room and saw Iruka-sensei with another ninja I didn't recognize.

"Hello Sumiko! Now all I need you to do is produce a clone of yourself." he said happily. Iruka-sensei was always a happy sort of guy, and he was a good teacher.

I quickly made the hand signs for a clone and a replica of myself appeared to my left.

"Excellent! You really have come a far way in such a short time Sumiko! You pass." sensei spoke with a smile as he handed me an official headband.

I bowed. "Thank you Iruka-sensei!" I said and ran out of the building. I'm a ninja now! Heck yeah! I decided to stop quickly for some dango as a treat for myself for passing. After getting some of the delicious snack I went straight home.

"Kakashi! I passed! I'm a ninja now!" I shouted excitedly as I opened the door to the house. I saw Kakashi's head pop up from the couch. He jumped up and walked over to me.

"Good job kiddo. You're gonna make one hell of a kunoichi." my guardian praised as he ruffled my hair. All of a sudden the front door burst open and Gai-sensei burst through yelling, "Dynamic entry!"

I glanced from the green clad ninja to Kakashi. He had that somewhat exasperated look on his face that he got whenever Gai did something crazy.

"Congratulations Sumiko! I heard you graduated and are now a kunoichi of the leaf village!" Gai-sensei was, to say the least, a very eccentric character. He was very loud and tended to shout a lot of what he was saying, but it fit his personality.

I giggled a bit before answering Gai-sensei. "Yes Gai-sensei. Thank you, I officially graduated about," I glanced at the clock on the wall, "twelve minutes ago."

"Ha ha! Wonderful! Now how would you like to join me and my team as our newest member?" he asked, giving me his "nice guy" pose.

"Well..." I trailed off nervously. I really wouldn't mind being on Team Gai. I was already friends with Lee and TenTen. Neji was a slightly different story. It wasn't like we didn't like each other it was just that we weren't as close. Lee and TenTen have even helped me out with my taijutsu and weapon precision sometimes, and Kami knows how many times I've had to patch up Lee after a particularly tough training session. It wouldn't be horrible to be on their team, but I really did want to experience becoming a team with my own teammates. Those three were already a solid team.

"Sorry Gai." Kakashi said stepping up to meet his friend.

"I've already got dibs on training this one and her team." Kakashi ruffled my hair again.

Gai-sensei started to dramatically weep. "It seems you have won this round Kakashi!" He then jumped up back into his signature 'nice guy' pose and faced me again.

"But if you ever want to be trained by the best Jonin of Konoha my offer still stands Sumiko!"and then he poofed away. I turned to Kakashi.

"Are you really going to be my team's jonin leader?" I asked excitedly. Kakashi is a really awesome ninja. He may be lazy most of the time, but when he really feels like it Kakashi can kick some serious butt.

The silver haired jonin rubbed the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Well you weren't supposed to find out until tomorrow, but it seems the cat's out of the bag."

I jumped in excitement! "This is so awesome Kakashi!" After a few minutes of jumping around in excitement a thought crossed my mind and I stopped. I turned back around to my guardian and stared at him strangely.

"Does this mean I have to call you Kakashi-_sensei_?"

* * *

The next day at the academy I looked around at the other people in the room while Iruka-sensei was getting things prepared. Ten of us had passed. That would make things a bit weird in sorting out the teams, but whatever. The ten new genin were myself, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Sakura Haruno, Shino Aburame, Ino Yamanaka, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Sasuke Uchiha, and last but not least, Naruto Uzumaki.

Our class was full of impressive names. Almost everyone was from a well known and talented clan except for me, Sakura, and Naruto. I wonder who I'll end up being grouped with. As I was thinking about who my future teammates could be Iruka-sensei called the class to order.

"First off congratulations to all of you in this room. You are all now official ninja of Konoha! Now today you will be split up into your teams and meet your new senseis."

I smiled at that. Kakashi already let it slip that I would be placed on his team. I was just eager to find out who else was going to be on that team.

"We have divided you into teams that would compliment you and your teammates strengths. Now since there are ten of you, one team will have an extra member." the chunin explained.

"First we have team 8 which will consist of Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame." I glanced at the three people whose names had been called. Shino looked indifferent, Hinata was messing with her fingers and Kiba looked excited.

"Team Seven will be our four member cell. These four will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sumiko Hatake,"

Naruto huh? Alright I can deal with that, I thought.

"Sakura Haruno," Iruka-sensei continued. I groaned. Sakura wasn't exactly my favorite person in the world. She was book smart that's for sure, but she was like Ino in the sense that she had become much more irritating since she had developed a crush on the Uchiha boy. I glanced over to my blond teammate to take in his expression. Naruto was staring at Sakura with a smile on his face. He did seem to have a bit of a crush on the pink haired kunoichi.

"And Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka finished.

"WHAT?!" Naruto yelled. Man, this guy is loud.

"Iruka-sensei why do I have to be on a team with that _teme_?!" Naruto yelled again.

"Iruka-sensei sighed. "We put you two on the same team because while Sasuke had the highest scores in the class, you held the lowest." There were snickers heard throughout the classroom.

"Does that answer your question Naruto?" Iruka-sensei asked. Naruto sat back down in his seat defeated. "Yes Iruka-sensei."

Iruka nodded and continued. "Which leaves our last team to be Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi." I heard Shikamaru let out a sigh. I chuckled quietly. I knew exactly what he was thinking. 'What a drag' were sure to be the words that were running through his mind.

"Now why don't you all have lunch with your teammates and get to know each other better. After lunch return here and your new jonin sensei's should be here to pick you up. You all are dismissed."

I looked around and saw the others split into their teams and leave. I saw Sakura chase after Sasuke who was headed out the door and Naruto followed Sakura. I sighed. 'I better go catch up with my "team"'. I followed after them thinking about my new teammates.

Sakura Haruno came from a civilian family and as far as I know her hair is naturally that color. She was very smart and pretty good at genjutsu and chakra control but her taijutsu was very weak which I didn't really understand because judging from the way she would hit Naruto when he did something to piss her off the girl seemed to have some brutal strength. She was also pretty boy crazy, and she wasn't just crazy about any boy, she head over heels for Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke Uchiha had a sad story. He was the only survivor of his clan massacre. The man who murdered everyone was his very own brother. He didn't really talk to anyone but when he did they were usually insults. He thought he was better than everyone and that's what really bothered me. I did have to admit that he was strong though, but not strong enough to act the way he did. He was very skilled in pretty much everything, but the boy desperately needed an attitude check and some more hugs.

Naruto Uzumaki had kind of a sad story too. He was an orphan from birth and for some reason people in the village shunned him. I never understood why, I mean sure he was a goofball, really loud, and liked to pull pranks but that was no reason for people to be as mean to him as they were. I didn't really get much of an opportunity to talk to him much at the Academy so I was glad he was on my team. He seemed like a pretty nice guy.

I thought about all the different personalities of my team and cringed. There would certainly be quite a few arguments. I sighed. Oh dear lord this was going to be interesting.

* * *

"Hey Sasuke, want to go eat lunch and work on our teamwork together?" Sakura tried to flirt. Sasuke just replied with a "hn" and kept on walking.

"How about we go work on our teamwork, eh Sakura?" Naruto asked wiggling his eyebrows in this weird sort of perverted way. I didn't catch what the pink haired girl said but I did see her whack him across the head and then go chase after Sasuke.

After seeing the defeated look on Naruto's face and watching him rub the spot where Sakura hit him I decided to do something. "Hey Naruto, come here for a minute will ya?" I asked him gently.

"Huh? Sure Sumiko-chan, what's up?" he asked. I gathered some water from the water skin I kept attached to my belt and bended it to coat my left hand.

"Here, let me fix that for you." I said as I lifted my hand to his head. I found the injury and my water coated hands began to glow as I healed the injury. It wasn't so bad so it didn't take much time.

"Does that feel better?" I asked with a smile.

"Wow Sumiko-chan! I didn't know you knew medical ninjutsu!"

I laughed nervously. "Though I do know some medical ninjutsu that wasn't technically medical ninjutsu. I guess you could say it's sort of like a kekkei genkai. I have the ability to heal injuries by just using water." I tried to explain.

"Really? That's so cool! How come nobody in the Academy's ever seen you do this before?" he asked curiously.

"I'm not exactly allowed to use it. The Hokage wanted my abilities to be kept secret. Besides you and the Hokage only my guardian knows about my abilities, so let's keep this between us okay Naruto?" I asked nervously. If Kakashi found out I used my waterbending without permission he'd kill me.

"You can count on me Sumiko! Thanks!" he yelled as he ran off. I sighed as I watched the orange clad blond turn a corner and run out of my view. Looks like I'm eating lunch on my own. Again.

After eating lunch I made my way back to the room we were supposed to wait in. When I was passing by a utilities closet I heard a bunch of rustling movements. I cautiously opened the door to find Sasuke bound and gagged struggling to get out of the ropes he was tied up in. I just stared at the struggling boy.

"What happened to you?" I asked, pulling the cloth gag from his mouth.

"Just untie me."

I just looked at him. He sighed. "_Please_ untie me."

I smiled. That's more like it. "Sure thing, we are teammates now after all."

"Where's Naruto?" he asked with venom in his voice.

I blinked in surprise. Naruto did this? Naruto actually managed to catch Sasuke off guard and tie him up? I don't believe it. I thought to myself.

"I'm not exactly sure where Naruto is right now, but I bet if you can find Sakura you can probably find him near by." I reasoned.

"Hn." was all Sasuke said and then jumped out the window.

I better follow him to make sure nobody dies.

I found Sasuke with Sakura by a bench with her asking him if he was "emotionally prepared". I was so confused.

"Naruto is so lucky to not have parents to scold him for not doing any chores." is what I heard Sakura saying as I stepped up next to Sasuke. Something in me snapped when I heard her say that. I stepped directly in front of her and slapped her in the face.

She glared at me angrily. "What the hell! Why did you-" I cut her off.

"You spoiled little brat, how dare you. How dare you say something like that. You don't know how lucky you are to have parents that love you and care about you. So what if they get mad at you for not doing your chores. At least your parents accept and support you. At least your parents aren't ashamed of your existence. I would give anything for a mother that loved me. My mother separated me from my brother and sent me away when I was only three years old because of what I can do." I hissed. Sakura lowered her eyes and looked away from me. "I haven't seen her or my twin brother since I was three, and I haven't seen my father since I was nine. I hardly remember what they look like anymore and I will never see them again. It's a horrible feeling I hope you don't have to experience while growing up. I never want to hear you say something like that ever again. You don't know how hard it is." I finished.

"And lonely." Sasuke added. Sasuke continued to tell his bit while I thought about that word. Lonely. I couldn't say I was lonely like he was. I have Kakashi. I know we aren't actually related but I still consider him family just like Gai, Lee, TenTen, and even Neji. I knew the pain of being unwanted but I can't say that I'm lonely. Not anymore.

"Sumiko."

I looked up to find the Uchiha staring at me. "Let's go." he said. I followed him as we left Sakura sitting there on the bench.

* * *

HOURS LATER

"Where the hell is our sensei?! Everyone else has been gone for hours!" Naruto complained.

Kakashi certainly is taking his time. I thought as I blew my bangs out of my face frustratingly. Naruto then proceeded to hang an eraser over the door so that when Kakashi would walk in it would fall on him.

"There's no way an elite Jonin would fall for that, dobe." Sasuke spoke.

"Ehh, I'm not so sure about that. He can fall for some stupid tricks sometimes." I mused out loud.

"Huh? Do you know who our sensei is Sumiko-chan?" Sakura asked. I looked over to see my three teammates looking at me curiously. I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck nervously. It was something I had picked up from Kakashi.

"Well, yeah I do. I thought maybe he was just joking, but only _he_ could be this late." I admitted. Suddenly I heard someone sneeze outside the door. Oops. Kakashi probably heard that.

The doorknob began to turn and we were all awaiting to see if the eraser would make its mark on the jonin. Kakashi popped his head in and the eraser fell on him, coating the jonin in a layer of chalk dust.

"My first impression is... you're all a bunch of idiots."

We sat on the roof with Kakashi-sensei. Ugh, it still felt weird calling him sensei.

"Why don't we all introduce ourselves?" the jonin suggested.

"Why don't you go first sensei? That way we all know what exactly to say?" Sakura piped up.

"Alright. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I like a lot of things and I dislike things too. I don't feel like telling you about my hobbies, and as for my dreams, they're none of your business."

I sighed. "That didn't help at all Kakashi." I spoke bluntly. The others looked at me weird. More than likely because I addressed our sensei so familiarly.

"Why don't you go next then Sumiko?"

I smiled. "Okay! My name is Sumiko Hatake!" I looked at my teammates expressions and they all look sort of confused.

"Are you related to Kakashi-sensei Sumiko-chan?" Naruto asked.

"You two do really look alike." Sakura observed. I chuckled. "Nope. Sorry guys. Kakashi and I are not related by blood, though we do indeed look alike with the hair and everything. Kakashi is my legal guardian though." my teammates just looked more confused.

"Anyways that is a story for a different time. I like training and reading. Potatoes are my favorite food, mainly because you can cook them however you like and they always taste delicious. I like cooking, I like when Anko treats me to dango. I have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with the delicious treat, and my favorite place to be is anywhere near water. I absolutely adore the water." I said with a smile.

"My dislikes are cleaning, the smell of strong concentrated vanilla, onions, and creepy looking bugs. My dream is to become an elite kunoichi who is also highly skilled in the healing arts that way I can help those closest to me on or off the battlefield."

Kakashi smiled, Naruto gave me a thumbs up, Sasuke looked conflicted? I'm not really sure what his expression was, and Sakura looked a little shocked. I didn't understand why.

"That's an excellent goal Sumiko. You, in the orange, why don't you go next?"

"Alright! My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen from Ichiraku's, instant ramen, when Iruka-sensei pays for my ramen. I dislike the three minutes I have to wait to eat my ramen." he continued. Geez, Naruto's all about ramen.

"And my dream is to become Hokage so people will respect me and stop treating me like a nobody! Believe it!" he shouted as he thrust his fist into the air.

"Let's have out other young lady go next." Kakashi said nicely. Sakura flipped her long hair back and then began.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. What- I mean who I like is...," her eyes drifted over to Sasuke and she giggled. I rolled my eyes. How dumb, yeah he's cute, but he's still not very nice.

"I dislike Naruto!" she yelled. I frowned at this and looked over to Naruto. He looked sad for a moment before putting a smile back on his face. "My dream is.." she trailed off again and finished by giggling while staring at Sasuke again. The Uchiha looked less than amused.

"Finally, you with the attitude." Kakashi gestured to Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like a lot of things, and my dream-no goal, is to restore my clan and kill a certain someone." he finished darkly. I stared at the raven haired boy. He looked deep in thought. He suddenly looked up and met my gaze. I could see the pain and hate that filled his eyes. I smiled sadly at him. Suddenly, an idea rushed through my mind. Maybe all Sasuke needs is a friend? Now that I think about it I don't think I've ever seen anyone ever even _try_ to befriend the Uchiha boy. All the girls just wanted to be his girlfriend and the boys just wanted to beat him. I lifted my gaze from the ground back to Sasuke Uchiha. I had made up my mind. I was going to become Sasuke Uchiha's friend. This would probably be a long process but I was determined, and who knows, maybe Uchiha isn't so bad under all that moodiness of his.

"Well you certainly are an interesting group. You all have very different personalities. Tomorrow meet at the training ground at seven a.m. Oh, and don't eat anything if you don't want to vomit." Kakashi finished ominously before he used a transportation jutsu and poofed away.

I was the first to get up. "Well, I suppose I'll see you all tomorrow, unless any of you want to go get dinner?" I asked cautiously. I really didn't think anyone would want to go but I asked to be polite.

"I'll go with you if you don't mind Sumiko-chan." Sakura spoke up. My eyes widened a bit. I didn't think Sakura really liked me, especially since I slapped her today. I smiled at my pink haired teammate. Maybe she wasn't as bad as I thought she was.

"Of course Sakura!" She smiled back at me.

"Great! Do you boys want to come along too?"

"Yeah! I'm in!" Naruto exclaimed happily.

"What about you Uchiha? Are you in?" I asked the moody boy. This could be the first step in my plan to become the raven haired boy's friend.

"Hn. I guess." he said as he got up and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Sakura was beaming. The pink haired kunoichi's eyes were bright with joy and excitement. I could tell she was excited to have dinner with the guy she was so obsessed with.

"That's awesome Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheered. I smiled. I didn't think we'd all willing be having a team meal so soon.

* * *

We sat down at Ichiraku's with Sasuke and I in the middle. Sakura was on Sasuke's right and Naruto was on my left. We were actually having a pretty good time. I got to know Naruto and Sakura a little bit better. Sasuke didn't really contribute to the conversation much but he did crack an actual smile a few times.

"Hey, Sumiko?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, Sakura?"

"How exactly is Kakashi-sensei your legal guardian?" the pinkette asked.

"Yeah Sumiko-chan how exactly does that work?" Naruto added. Even Sasuke had turned to me waiting for an answer.

"Well Kakashi was the one that found me." I stated simply.

"What do you mean he found you?" Sakura questioned.

"I showed up in Konoha about four years ago. I'm still not really sure how I got here. I remember that the first thing I could think of when I saw this place was the trees. I had never seen so many trees in one place in my life." I finished in what was almost a whisper as I remembered my first few moments in Konoha.

"So where are you originally from?" I was surprised that it was Sasuke who asked this question. He had hardly spoken throughout dinner.

"The place I come from is not Yukigakure or the Land of Snow or anywhere near it, but like those lands it is covered in ice and snow. We were known as the Northern Water tribe. Our buildings, walls, bridges, walkways, and pretty much everything was made of ice. It really was a beautiful place though I didn't care for most of the people who inhabited it. They tormented and ridiculed me to no end. It wasn't even until I had shown a proficiency in healing that my own father acknowledged me as anything more than a burden and parasite in his home." I spat out. I looked up and observed my teammates faces. Naruto held a look of knowing on his face. He knew how it felt to be treated badly by the community.

"Would you go back if you had the chance?" Sasuke asked another question. Well isn't he just mister talkative today.

I mulled my answer over in my head for a few moments. "Honestly, I think I would. Not to stay or anything, but I would like to see old lady Karani again. She was very nice." I answered. I shook my head and laughed.

"Anyways, I am getting way off track. To answer your original question Sakura, Kakashi found me on a rainy day about four years ago. He took me to Lord Hokage and then the Hokage decided that I would stay with Kakashi since he found me and we look alarmingly similar. I've been living with Kakashi ever since." I finished with a smile.

"You wouldn't by any chance have any idea what Kakashi has planned for us tomorrow would you Sumiko?" Sakura asked nervously.

"Sorry Sakura, I really have no idea what Kakashi has planned. I will tell you guys one thing though." All my teammates looked toward me expectantly. "Kakashi has a habit of hiding the real lesson the training is supposed to teach within everything else that's going on, so be observant and try to read between the lines." I told them.

"Have you been trained by Kakashi before?" Sasuke asked.

"You know I think this is the most I've ever heard you talk Sasuke." I told him. The young Uchiha glared at me and I rolled my eyes.

"What? I'm not saying it's a bad thing or anything I was just simply making an observation."

"Just answer the question."

"Kakashi trained me a little bit. He helped me with chakra control and some water ninjutsu. When it came to training outside the Academy I mostly spent my time working my taijutsu and I had the help of some of the other ninja with that." I smiled at the memories of training with Lee and Gai-sensei. Their methods were crazy, but they produced fantastic results.

"I can assure you that Kakashi is an awesome ninja and great teacher if that's what you're worried about." I reassured.

"Hn." was his reply as he turned back to his food.

"So are you and Kakashi you know?" Naruto asked pervertedly. Sasuke began to choke on his food when he heard this. I quickly slapped him on the back until he gave me a signal to stop.

"So is that a yes?" Naruto asked slyly. We all glared at Naruto and Sakura hit him.

"Don't say things like that you idiot!" Sakura yelled. Now if it were any other circumstance I would have asked Sakura not to hit him, but this time _I _wanted to hit him.

"No! That's disgusting you fool! Do you know how _old_ he is?! That's so gross Naruto!" I yelled at the blond. I crossed my arms across my chest and turned away from him.

"Ehh, sorry Sumiko-chan."

* * *

The rest of the night after that actually went pretty well. I think we were all feeling a little more comfortable with each other after tonight. The old man at Ichiraku even gave us a pretty big discount on our meal. I think he was happy to see Naruto with someone other than Iruka-sensei for once. We were finished with dinner and now we were parting ways.

"See you in the morning!" I called out to Sakura. I didn't really think I would like her all that much since I saw the way she was with Ino back at the Academy but she was actually really nice. Well to me at least. Naruto still irritated the heck out of her. The noise that came from beside me drew me out of my thoughts. I turned to my right to find Sasuke walking beside me.

"You're still here Sasuke? I thought you had left." I asked curiously.

"Don't be stupid, I live further down this way." he spoke as if I was supposed to know exactly where his house was.

"Well geez, no need to get snippy Uchiha. I'm sorry I don't stalk you like all the other girls do." I said sarcastically.

We walked in silence until I just couldn't take it anymore.

"You should come over for dinner sometime." I blurted out. The Uchiha boy scoffed. I rolled my eyes.

"Not just you dumb-dumb. Sakura and Naruto would obviously be invited too. Tonight was fun. It was nice to get to know all of you a little bit better, and I think it would be nice to do a team dinner type thing every once in a while. It would be no problem cooking for you all." I continued.

"_You_ cook?" he asked skeptically. Now it was my turn to scoff.

"Of course I cook. You would know that if you had paid any attention to our introductions, 'Mr. One of My Goals in Life is Making a Bunch of Babies'." I teased. I gazed over to Sasuke and saw that his cheeks were pink. I couldn't help but laugh and poke him in his side.

"You didn't think I would notice that, huh? I may only be thirteen but I'm pretty sure that 'restoring my clan' is code for making babies." I joked while poking him in the side once more.

"Stop it." he grumbled as he swatted my hand away.

"Fine." I said as I stopped. Sasuke walked a few more steps before stopping and looking back.

"I meant stop poking me, not stop walking moron." he sighed as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"This is my stop. I didn't just stop walking for no reason dumb-dumb."

"Hn." The Uchiha turned around and kept on walking.

"See you tomorrow Sasuke!" I called as the dark haired boy continued to walk away. I wasn't really expecting any sort of response from him so I was pleasantly surprised to see him lift his right arm in acknowledgement. I smiled at his disappearing figure before I opened the door.

"Saying goodnight to your little boyfriend, eh Sumiko?" I heard a familiar yet obnoxious voice ask. I closed the door behind me and took off my shoes.

"Not my boyfriend." I said simply.

"But you want him to be your boyfriend." It wasn't a question, but a statement. I scoffed.

"I'm thirteen Anko-chan. I don't exactly want a boyfriend right now." I told the persistent kunoichi.

I felt a hand pat my head. "Good girl Sumiko. You know boys are nothing but trouble." Kakashi praised. I quickly swatted his hand off my head and faced him.

"I'm not a dog Kakashi." I pouted.

Anko let out a loud laugh. "You're going to give Kakashi a heart attack when you start to date Sumiko. Anyway I stopped by to give you these." She handed me three tickets and two pieces of paper.

"A little gift for finally becoming a real ninja like the rest of us."

I looked at what she had given me excitedly. The tickets were coupons for free dango at my favorite dango stand and the other two just had I.O.U. written on it.

"Thanks Anko-chan! I really appreciate it, but what are the I.O.U's for?" I asked.

"Those kiddo, are favors. You have in your possession two favors that you can call in at any time. Use them carefully because once they're gone, they're gone." she warned.

"Wow Anko! Thanks!" I grinned.

"No problem kid, I'll see you losers later." she finished as she jumped out one of the windows instead of using the door like a normal person. That's Anko for you.

"How did dinner go?" Kakashi asked as I plopped myself onto one of the couches.

"It didn't end in complete disaster so I'd say it went rather well. I think we're all a bit more comfortable with each other now, and to think that I just asked to be polite. I didn't even think anyone would want to come along when I asked to be honest." I admitted.

"Well I'm glad you all had fun. Now get some rest kiddo. You'll need it for tomorrow." Kakashi ruffled my hair before going to his room.

* * *

** The following is just a little random rant. The line "not my boyfriend" that Sumiko says to Anko in this chapter was due to Sherlock playing in the background while I was writing this. John said "not his date" and thus the inspiration for the Anko and Sumiko scene was born!**

**Anyway, there's chapter 2! **

**Reviews are always welcome! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter 3!**

* * *

I woke up at six a.m. the next morning. I peeked into Kakashi's room to find him still asleep. I sighed once I was out of earshot. By the time he woke up and spent time at _that_ place... I sighed again. He was going to make us wait. I grabbed a large apple and a light blanket. I know he said not to eat, but by the time he actually got to the training grounds I would be so hungry I don't even care if I did throw up. I packed my backpack with my lunch, blanket and some apples for me and my teammates in the bag. I figured that it would be best for me to take some for them as well. Kami knows how long Naruto would last without some food, and I'm sure Sasuke and Sakura would appreciate it. Okay, at least Sakura would appreciate it.

I attached my kunai and shuriken pouches. I also attached a decent sized water skin that held enough water to form a water whip. I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to use my waterbending, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

I made it to the training grounds at 6:56. It was 7:15 when Sakura said, "Shouldn't sensei be here by now?"

I sat down with my back against a tree.

"Yeah, Sumiko-chan where's Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked impatiently.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Not sure, but he'll probably be a while." I said while pulling out some of the items in my bag. It wasn't a complete lie. I really wasn't sure where Kakashi was at this point of time. I tossed each of my teammates an apple and bit into the one that I had brought for myself.

"I thought Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat anything?" Sakura asked me nervously as she eyed the apple in her hands.

"Yeah, well Kakashi will probably be a while and by the time he actually gets here it won't matter." I told her as I took another bite out of my apple.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm starving! Thanks Sumiko-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he started to devour the apple. I looked over to Sasuke who was just staring at the apple.

"What's wrong Sasuke? It's not like I poisoned it or anything. Don't you trust me?" I asked. He met my gaze and stared at me for a while. Soon enough he sighed and took a bite. I smiled. Slowly but surely I'm making progress in mission: Befriend the Lonely Uchiha!

We had all finished our apples and Kakashi still wasn't here yet. I sighed and pulled out my blanket. I wrapped it around myself and leaned against a tree.

"What are you doing, moron?" Sasuke asked.

I opened one of my eyes to look at the Uchiha boy. "I'm trying to take a nap dumb-dumb, what does it look like I'm doing?" I retorted.

"Sumiko! Sasuke isn't dumb! He's a genius!" Sakura defended.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say Sakura." I yawned. "He's a _dumb_ genius." I mumbled under my breath. Judging by the glare Sasuke shot me I think it's safe to assume he heard me.

"Hn. Whatever." he said as he turned around and walked somewhere to my left.

"Wake me up when Kakashi gets here!" I called out loud hoping that at least one of my teammates heard me.

I woke up to the sensation of hitting the ground.

"Oomph." I grumbled as my face hit dirt. I looked up to see Kakashi nudge me lightly with his foot.

"Now that we're all awake, let's get started. Today we'll be doing a survival exercise-"

"WHAT?!" Naruto interrupted.

"Why are we doing survival exercises?! That's what the Academy is for! I want a real mission!" the blonde exclaimed. I glanced toward the others and saw that they looked kind of ticked off too. I don't blame them. Seriously, what the hell Kakashi?

Kakashi went on to explain that the graduation exam was just to weed out the weak. That only some of us would become actual genin and the rest would be sent back to the Academy.

"The purpose of this test will be to get one of these bells." the silver hair jonin said, holding up three little bells on red strings. He then pulled a timer seemingly out of nowhere and placed it on a stump.

"You will have until noon to get a bell from me. Those of you who do not get one won't get any lunch." he said smugly.

Ahh, so that's why he didn't want any of us to eat. I smirked.

"Ha. I bet you all are glad I gave you those apples now." I spoke. Kakashi sensei turned to face me directly and he raised his visible eyebrow.

"You gave them food?" Kakashi asked surprised.

"Yup."

"Even though I said not to eat?" he continued his questioning.

"Technically you said not to eat unless we wanted to throw up. I knew you would more than likely be late so I figured there was no harm in something light. It was just an apple." I tried to reason with the jonin.

"Hmm. I suppose you're right. You used the information you already knew to your advantage and ended up helping your teammates, very good." he turned to face the other three.

"You all lucky to have such a thoughtful teammate. Anyway, in this test you must come at me with the intent to kill. You can do what you must to get a bell, including using jutsu and your shuriken." he stated calmly.

"But sensei, those are dangerous. Someone could get hurt!" Sakura cried. I couldn't help but scoff and roll my eyes. As much as I was beginning to like Sakura she could be such a little girl sometimes. He said come at him with the intent to kill. Then something in me clicked.

"Kakashi! If you say to come at you with the intent to kill does that mean-"

"No." he cut me off.

I groaned in frustration and crossed my arms across my chest. "You don't even know what I was going to-"

"Yes I do and the answer is no." he said with the tone that meant the conversation was over.

"Fine." I huffed. This is going to be a lot more difficult if I can't use my waterbending. Naruto rushed to Kakashi only to have his plan backfire on him.

"Eager one aren't you? I didn't even say start yet, but at least you came at me with the intent to kill." he said as he let Naruto go.

"Begin."

As soon as Kakashi spoke that word we all scattered and hid. Well... almost all of us. Naruto stood there in the clearing wanting to face Kakashi head on...Let's just say it wasn't pretty. It really wasn't. That 1,000 Years of Death jutsu is really gross.

I had to think of a plan. How was I supposed to get a bell without using my waterbending? My taijutsu was good but not nearly good enough to take on a jonin like Kakashi. There was no way in hell I could use a genjutsu. For one, I suck at casting them, and two, even if I could cast one Kakashi would see right through it. I sighed in frustration. You know what? Who cares, I'm going to use my waterbending. There wasn't much water in this area but I had an idea.

I followed Kakashi and found him using a headhunter jutsu on Sasuke. I looked at him for a moment before going after Kakashi. I'd get him out of that later.

"Ah, Sumiko. I was wondering when you would make your move." Kakashi spoke nonchalantly as he continued to read his adult book. I scrunched my nose in disgust.

"You really shouldn't be reading that. Especially in front of us _innocent _and _impressionablechildren_, Kakashi-_sensei_." I scolded. I quickly popped the lid on the water skin that I had at my side and drew out a small amount of water. Just enough to make these incredibly thin but sharp ice needles and send them at Kakashi.

He shut his book and tucked it back into his vest. "I thought I said not to use those techniques."

"Yeah, well, I needed to do something to get your attention." I said as I quickly started making a series of hand signs. "Water Style: Water Cannon Technique!" A large, fast moving, boiling jet of water came shooting out of my mouth. Kakashi quickly retaliated with another water jutsu which cancelled them both out. This left a bunch of water all over the ground. I smirked at the sight. Excellent.

"You know I was the one that taught you that jutsu right?" Kakashi asked sarcastically.

"Yup. I've also sparred against you enough to know that the only way I stand a chance at my current level is to use my waterbending. Thanks to you I now have enough water to try out something new." I grinned slyly. With some quick and fluid movements I have bent the water to create my octopus form.

"Doesn't look like anything new Sumiko. You've been using this form since you were nine." Kakashi said as he headed toward me. I shot two of the tentacles towards Kakashi. They each grabbed one of his arms, forced them out to his sides, and slammed him against a nearby tree.

"Here's the new part." I smirked as I flicked my fingers. That flick of my fingers had caused the water around Kakashi to freeze and turn into ice leaving the silver haired jonin stuck.

"Impressive, but this is just ice. I can get out of this." Kakashi said as he tried to break free.

"Not so fast Kakashi-sensei. I've infused chakra into the water as it shot out. As long as I've got some connection I can keep you stuck for a little while." I grinned. It was taking a large amount of chakra to keep him restrained.

"Nice job, but if you're stuck up to your elbows in the ice that's keeping me down, how do you plan on getting a bell?"

My smile turned into a frown. He was right. I guess I still had some adjustments to make to this new move. At this point I was just as stuck as he was. Hmmm, aha!

"I'll just get one of the others to help me! We can both get a bell that way!" I exclaimed. I began to smile again.

"Yeah! I just passed Sasuke on my way over here! Hey, Sasuke, where are you?!" I yelled hoping the young Uchiha, or any of my teammates really, heard me. When no one came I sighed. "I swear I just saw him before I found you." I told Kakashi. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I dropped my head in shame.

"I am so stupid! I left him stuck in your headhunter jutsu!" I cried. To make matters even worse Kakashi broke out of my ice hold. I guess I lost concentration. He rushed at me and managed to punch me in the gut. I was knocked to the ground but I quickly got back up.

"You left your teammate stuck? Did you even bother looking for the other two before you came at me?" Kakashi questioned in a scolding tone as he came at me again.

I dodged his attack. "No." I admitted meekly. I didn't even think of looking for any of the others. It was chance that I came across Sasuke, but I had no idea where Sakura or Naruto were.

"Do you see where you went wrong?" he asked as he stopped his attacks.

"If I would have gotten him out, or look for the others at least two of us could have gotten bells. All it would have taken is a little tea-" I stopped myself mid-sentence and sent a sly glare at Kakashi.

"This was the whole point of this from the beginning wasn't it?" I asked the silver haired jonin. "You wanted us to work together as a team." Wow I am seriously stupid. How could I not realize that before. I even warned the other three that there was always this lesson that you had to read between the lines to figure out.

Kakashi smiled at me. "At least one of you figured it out. Though it seems you were too late." As Kakashi finished speaking the timer went off. I sighed as Kakashi used a jutsu to flicker away.

I quickly found my way back to our starting point to find Naruto tied up and Sasuke still stuck in Kakashi's jutsu. Sakura looked extremely worried.

"It's safe to say none of you need to go back to the Academy." Kakashi-sensei spoke with an eerie calmness to his voice. I narrowed my eyes. Something about this didn't feel right.

"Really?" Naruto asked excitedly. Sakura looked relieved and Sasuke still didn't look even remotely happy. Though that might be because he was still stuck in the ground.

"In fact, you all should be dropped from the program!" Kakashi exploded. I sighed. I knew he wouldn't let us off so easily.

"Only one of you grasped the point of this exercise and by the time you did Sumiko it was too late." he scolded.

"But Kakashi-sensei, I thought the objective was to get a bell?" Sakura asked.

"That was the stated objective, but the real point of this test was to work together to try to get the bells." I sighed. I understood it now. I just wish I would have figured it out earlier.

"Sumiko is correct. Did you ever think about why you were split up into teams?" Kakashi asked.

"But there was only three bells! That means one of us would have to be sent back no matter what! It was like you were trying to pit us against each other." the pink haired kunoichi cried.

"Being a ninja means that you will sometimes be forced to make difficult decisions." The jonin explained. "For instance, Sakura, kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!"

My eyes widened in surprise and before I knew it I had both Sakura and Kakashi's hands and feet sealed in ice. I quickly released them both when I realized nobody was going to get hurt. My cheeks turned red in embarrassment. I don't know why I did that. I should have known that neither of them would have done anything. Not to mention I kind of just used my waterbending in front of everyone. I know it was bound to happen eventually since I would be around them a lot and all, but still I didn't want to show them like this.

Kakashi ended up saying he'd give us a second chance after lunch. He also said that none of us were to let Naruto eat. I opened by bento to find some rice balls. I liked to keep my lunch simple on days I knew I would be training. Naruto's stomach let out a loud growl. I sighed and picked up a rice ball.

"Hey, Naruto!" I called. As soon as he opened his mouth to reply I stuffed a rice ball in his mouth. He chewed and swallowed it up quickly.

"Hehehe. Thanks Sumiko-chan." Naruto said sheepishly. Sasuke then shoved his lunch toward Naruto as well.

"But Kakashi-sensei said-"

"You'll only slow us down if you're hungry." Sasuke spoke. Sakura sighed and fed some of her lunch to Naruto as well.

"I'm on a diet anyway." she mumbled. As we took turns stuffing food into our blond haired teammate a dark cloud formed over us. Kakashi popped out of it.

"You all have broken the rules!" he boomed. I growled and stood up. I'd probably get an earful once we were home, but I have seriously had enough.

"So what? We were helping Naruto, our teammate." I challenged.

"Yeah. We're a team. We are one." Sasuke boldly added. Sakura stood up too and though she mustered a confident face, she didn't say anything. We all stood there confidently and then the dark cloud disappeared.

"You're one, hmm?" Kakashi asked.

He was quiet for a moment but I could see Kakashi smiling through the mask.

"You all... pass."

I let out a sigh of relief. Thank Kami we passed. I don't know what I would do if he had actually dropped us from the program.

"You lot are the first ones who have ever broken my rules. Everyone else had been too scared and followed my orders exactly. Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." he said darkly.

"Team Seven, report here tomorrow morning for our first mission." Kakashi said before flickering away. The rest of us started to walk away when Naruto shouted. "Hey, guys! Don't forget about me!"

I quickly turned around to find Naruto still tied to the tree. Almost forgot to untie Naruto. Oops. I jogged back and untied him.

"Thanks, Sumiko-chan! I thought you guys would have just left me here." Naruto laughed.

"To be honest I almost forgot. Good thing you said something or we might have accidently left you there." I laughed.

"Yeah! Can you believe we're actually ninja now! I'm so excited!" he cheered. I watched Naruto parade around in his little happy dance in his orange track suit. It was such a strange color for a shinobi, but it was loud just like his personality. It suit him well. Not to mention it made him look even more like a big ball of sunshine. He was so cheerful as he danced around. His good mood was contagious. I couldn't help but smile and laugh along with him.

"I'm gonna be the best ninja ever and I'll be Hokage someday! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed as we started to walk away from the training grounds.

"Our lives will definitely be getting much more interesting from now on." I said.

Was I really ready to be a ninja? I had seen the way Kakashi had come back from some missions. There was a couple of times where he really wouldn't eat much or talk for a few days. I could only imagine what he had experienced to make him act like that. I sighed. Was I really ready for all this?

"_Fight for your new home dear child. Protect it and the people in it." _the voices echoed through my head. I squeezed my hands into fists. I had to be ready whether I liked it or not. This place had become my new home and I intended to protect it and it's people.

"Yeah! I'm going to become a great ninja too! I'll get super strong and do everything I can to protect my village and my friends!" I shouted as I thrust my gloved fist into the air.

"Yeah Sumiko-chan! That's the spirit! We're going to become awesome ninjas!" Naruto exclaimed happily.

"Let's go catch up to the others." I suggested. My voice much more calm than it had been a second ago.

It didn't take us long to catch up with Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura was walking very close to the Uchiha boy and was trying to flirt with him.

"Do you want to hang out Sasuke?" Sakura asked. Her voice going up a couple of octaves than what it normally was.

"No." Sasuke said coldly and walked away. Sakura stopped in her tracks and looked down at the ground.

"Oh. Okay." she said sadly.

"I'll hang out with you Sakura!" Naruto said. Sakura just sighed.

"No thanks, Naruto." she said quietly. Wow. She must have been really upset. She didn't even yell at Naruto or anything. I think Naruto understood that as well.

"Oh, okay then." Naruto told her. "I guess I'll just be going home then. Bye Sumiko! Bye Sakura! See you both tomorrow!" Naruto said as he scampered away.

I walked to stand by my teammate. "Hey Sakura-chan?" I asked her quietly as I carefully laid a hand on her shoulder.

She sniffled and looked up at me. I could see her trying her hardest to hold back tears. "Yes Sumiko?" she replied shakily.

"Would you like to go shopping with me today? You see, I'm getting a little tired of wearing nothing but black and you're the only one I know that has any sense in fashion. I could really use your help." I smiled at her. I wasn't _really_ looking for a wardrobe update, but I could sense that some girl time was needed.

I watched as Sakura's face lit up with a big smile. She wiped at her eyes quickly and laughed a little bit. "Yeah, I think I'd like that."

* * *

"Thanks for inviting me to come with you Sumiko-chan. I haven't gone shopping with a friend in a long time." Sakura smiled. Shopping with Sakura wasn't so bad. It was actually kind of fun. Though I did have to listen to her talk about how Sasuke never even acknowledged her , I understood that she needed to vent to someone. I also found out that we actually had a slight similarity in styles. We disagreed on colors, but shopping with her was still fun. I had actually got a new outfit I think I would be wearing for now on.

We had finished shopping a while ago and we were now sitting down at one of the tables at my favorite dango stand. I had used two of the coupons Anko had given me.

"You're welcome Sakura. I don't think I've ever gone shopping with a friend. Well a friend my age at least. I've actually had a lot of fun." I smiled.

"Me too." she sighed happily. "I'm really glad we're friends Sumiko." she smiled at me.

"I'm glad we're friends too Sakura." I smiled right back at her.

"Can I ask you something Sumiko?" she asked nervously.

"Of course Sakura. What is it?'

"Would you be willing to help me train?" she blurted out.

My eyes widened in surprise. I was not expecting that question.

"Why do you want my help? We both just graduated. I think we're kind of on the same level."

"We're not and you know it." she said sharply. "I've seen you training sometimes with some other ninja. Your taijutsu level is way above mine or any of the other girls that were at the academy." she paused for a moment.

"I think I understand why we were both put on this team. You know how Iruka -sensei said that Naruto was the lowest scoring student and Sasuke was the highest? I think it's the same with you and me." she sighed sadly.

My eyes widened and I waved my hands out in front of me in denial. "Sakura, you can't honestly think that you're n-" she cut me off.

"I know I'm not strong Sumiko, and I know that _you_ are. That's why I want your help, so will you please help me?" she pleaded.

I sighed. "Before I answer, let me tell you something. You are already strong in your own way. You are good at genjutsu and are super smart. If you want help on your taijutsu that's fine, I'll help you." the pink haired girl's smile grew. She looked like she was about to hug me. I held up a hand telling her to wait. "I'll help you on one condition." I said with a smirk.

"Wh-what is it Sumiko-chan?" she stammered.

"I'll help train you in taijutsu if you'll agree to doing another one of these girl's day type things sometime in the future. Does that sound okay to you?" I asked with a smile. Sakura squealed in happiness and hugged me.

"Thank you so much Sumiko! I promise I'll work really hard!" she exclaimed.

After we finished eating we went our separate ways. I was halfway home when I passed by the hospital. They were bringing in a shinobi on a stretcher. He looked like he was in pretty bad shape.

A shiver ran down my spine. That could be me or my friends soon. We were entering a whole new life. It would be filled with adventure, but with every adventure came danger. A gust of wind blew through my hair. I took a deep breath and tensed. The wind smelt like rain. I looked up at the sky with narrowed eyes to see it had darkened immensely. A storm was coming, and I think it was going to be a big one.

* * *

**There was chapter 3. I want to kind of create a friendly type bond between Sumiko and Sakura. I've read a lot of fanfics where they totally bash on her and the oc hates her, but I kind of like Sakura as a character.**

**As for who Sumiko will eventually end up with, I'm not really quite sure who it should be yet. **

**Reviews are always welcome!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the delay I was on vacation!**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**_OH! BY THE WAY!_**** I am kicking up the rating of this story up to **M** for reasons. **

**Disclaimer: The only thing I own is my OC Sumiko. **

**WARNING: Language and a potentially weird situation in this chapter.**

* * *

It was a few days after our first mission, if you could really call what we did a mission. All we did was pull weeds for an old lady, though I can't say the day wasn't interesting. Naruto got a little too excited and started pulling out plants at a rapid rate. Unfortunately, he didn't only pull out weeds, he also pulled out the rare herbs the old lady was growing in her garden. Needless to say, the old woman wasn't very happy.

Today we were just doing some team training. Sakura and I had just met up here at one of the training grounds and were now waiting for Kakashi and the boys.

"You're wearing the new outfit we picked out the other day!" Sakura said happily. It wasn't a complete change seeing as I still had the same pants and shoes. All I really changed was my top and the color of my gloves. I kept the black shirt underneath but I had added this jacket. Sakura had found this dark blue jacket with white trimming that looked pretty much exactly like one I would find in the Northern Water Tribe. I know I didn't really actually like the majority of the time I lived there but it's where I come from. No matter where I go or what I become in this world I will never forget where I come from. I will never forget my roots.

Once I bought the jacket Sakura took me to this cool place where they were able to sew in the water tribe insignia of a crescent moon and waves on the back of it in this pretty white thread. I also added a white sash around my waist and changed my gloves from black to the same dark blue as my shoes and jacket. They were still dark colors, but at least I didn't look like I was always headed to a funeral all the time.

"Yup. I even put my hair up in that way you suggested too." I told her.

"Ahh, you did!" she exclaimed. I had let my hair out of the braid I constantly had it in and had pulled it up into two high pigtails. I would have put it in just one ponytail, but Sakura said I looked too much like Ino that way.

"You were right, I like this style much better." I smiled at her.

"I'm glad you liked it." she smiled. I watched as she moved her gaze slightly to the right and smiled even more. Sasuke must be getting here.

"Good Morning Sasuke-kun!" Sakura waved to our approaching teammate. Sasuke didn't even acknowledge her as he walked a little ways away from where the two of were. I frowned. He could have at least said good morning to her.

I glanced at Sakura's deflated form before walking up to Sasuke.

"Sumiko-chan, w-what are you doing?" Sakura asked nervously as she followed me.

"What do you want, moron?" Sasuke hissed. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I want to know what the hell your damn problem is." I demanded. "I want to know why you think you're so much better than the rest of us."

I felt a hand gently grab my shoulder.

"You don't have to do this Sumiko. You don't h-" I spun around and cut Sakura off.

"No. I do have to do this." I spoke harshly before turning back around to face the Uchiha. I wasn't just doing this because he didn't say hello this morning. He has been acting like he's so much better than everyone else on this team and it pisses me off.

"So enlighten me Sasuke, what makes you think that you're better than everyone else?" I growled. I know I was supposed to be making friends with him, but he needed to take his head out of his ass and be knocked down a few pegs.

"Hn. I know I'm better. You all just slow me down." he said with that stupid smirk of his.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Naruto asked happily. I didn't turn around to greet Naruto like I normally would. My attention was focused on the boy in front of me.

"Uhh Sumiko, why do you look like you're about to kill Sasuke?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Because I just might." I hissed.

"Hn. Yeah, right. Like you could even land a hit on me, moron." Sasuke sneered.

That's it. I've had it with his pompous ass. I channeled chakra to my fist and raised it, but before I could strike a gloved hand grabbed my fist.

"It seems I've turned up just in time." Kakashi said in a slightly amused voice.

"Let me at him Kakashi! I'm going to kick his ass!" I snarled.

"Now, now Sumiko. There will be time for that in a minute. Lucky for you, or maybe not so lucky, I've planned for you all to spar today." he let go of my fist and turned to face all of us.

"I've seen a portion of your abilities during the bell test, but today I want to see your abilities against each other."

I smirked at Sasuke. "You're going down Uchiha."

"Hn. Bring it on, moron." he retorted. His face holding a smirk of his own.

"Okay. Now, do I have any volunteers to go first?" Kakashi asked. I automatically stepped forward. Uchiha did the same.

Kakashi sighed. "I didn't even need to ask did I? Alright, rules are that you stop if the other yields or I tell you to stop. This is just a friendly spar between teammates, so don't kill each other. Understood?"

"Roger that." I called out. I was ready to kick Sasuke's ass.

"Hn." was the only noise Sasuke made. I cracked my knuckles and clenched my hands into fists. I started to gather chakra in my legs and feet preparing for a speedy take off once Kakashi allowed us to start.

"Yeah, Sumiko-chan! Kick teme's ass!" Naruto cheered from the side.

"Begin."

As soon as Kakashi spoke I dashed straight towards Sasuke aiming to punch him in the face. I was satisfied when I heard a crunch. I jumped back to see Sasuke's nose bleeding.

"Sasuke your nose!" Sakura cried. "You didn't have to hit Sasuke-kun so hard Sumiko!" she scolded.

"You broke teme's nose! You're so awesome Sumiko-chan!" Naruto yelled from the sidelines.

"So much for not being able to get a hit, huh, Uchiha?" I asked with a smirk.

"Don't underestimate your opponents. Especially not your own damn teammates." I hissed at him. I saw his face contort into one of anger and Sasuke rushed at me ready to pay me back for breaking his nose. I was a second too slow in dodging his attack. He got me in the gut and I got the breath knocked out of me. Damn him, he can throw a punch. He came at me again, but I was ready this time. I dodged and grabbed his arm. His other arm came up to punch me but I kicked it away. I wasn't expecting him to break out of my hold and grab my leg. I knew it would be risky to do what I was going to do next, but I had been dying to do this for a while now. I quickly brought the one leg I was still standing on up and kicked Sasuke hard in the family jewels. I heard him groan in pain. He let me go and jumped away from me before dropping to his knees.

"Oww, that's got to hurt." I heard Naruto say from the sidelines. I didn't look at him but I could practically hear the cringe in his voice.

"S-Sumiko, what did you do to Sasuke?!" Sakura yelled. I could even hear Kakashi mutter an "ouch" quietly.

Sasuke looked up at me with a look of pain mixed with complete fury. The look in his eyes kind of scared me. Oops. Okay, maybe I did take it a little too far. My eyes widened as he quickly made a series of handsigns. I let out a nervous squeak as he brought his hand to his mouth. Oh shit. I had seen him use this jutsu many times before in the Academy. It was the Uchiha signature ninjutsu, the fireball jutsu. I quickly threw myself out of the way of the large ball of fire, but I wasn't fast enough to get away completely unscathed. The fireball had caught the edges of my jacket and part of my pants as I rolled out of the way. As soon as I had stopped rolling I inspected the damage. I felt some burning on my legs but that wasn't what I was most concerned about right now. I looked over my jacket and I sighed in relief. The edges were singed pretty badly, but it was fixable.

"Damn you Uchiha! I just bought this jacket!" I growled out angrily. I jumped up back into a protective stance and huffed. Fine, if Uchiha wants to play hardball, we'll play hardball. I quickly made my own series of handsigns.

"Water style: Water Cannon Technique!" I yelled out. The jet of boiling hot water headed toward Sasuke but I wasn't done yet. I ran at Sasuke as soon as he dodged my attack. I crouched down as if in a sweeping kick which he also dodged. My hands and arms weren't in a position to defend myself during the kick, instead they stretched out to follow the circular pattern of my kick. Sasuke used it to his advantage and quickly kicked me in the face. His foot met my face and all I could hear was a sickening crunch. I knew he had broken my nose. I may have taken a harsh hit but it was worth it. My true intention behind the sweeping kick was not the kick at all but what my arms were doing. I had gathered the water left behind from my jutsu and now that I had enough I quickly used it to create a water whip and wrap it around Sasuke's neck. At this point I had entered a trance like state. The only thing on my mind was eliminating the enemy, nothing else was on my mind. I willed the water to wrap tighter around his throat to the point where he attempted to claw at it. Once I saw his hands touch the water I froze it with a flick of my fingers leaving his hands incapacitated.

"Woah, you're not actually going to kill him are you?" Naruto asked me nervously from the sidelines. I finally turned to face my two other teammates. Their expressions terrified me. They looked scared, genuinely scared of me. Sakura even looked like she was about to cry. I looked back to Sasuke to see him struggling to break the ice. He also looked like he was having trouble breathing. I quickly made the ice melt and let the water fall. I dropped to knees. I looked down at my shaking hands. What was I doing? I had never used my waterbending with such a killer intent before. I looked up to Sasuke with wide eyes. I could have actually killed him.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. I've never-" I felt a hand lay itself on my head.

"That's enough Sumiko." I turned my head to the left to see Kakashi crouched down beside me. "Why don't you go rest a bit, and we can talk about this later." the silver haired jonin suggested. I nodded my head and stood up.

"I'm calling this match to an end. Naruto, Sakura, you're up." Kakashi ordered. I walked over and sat myself down against a tree. I picked up my hands and looked at them again. What the hell was I doing? I could have actually killed Sasuke. I could have killed my teammate. I was supposed to be fighting to protect these people, not hurt them.

I felt my nose throb in pain. Oh, that's right Sasuke had broken it. I took a couple of deep breaths as I took off my gloves. I stuffed my gloves in a pocket and channeled chakra into my left hand, and my hand soon glowed a soft green. I had to be very careful using medical ninjutsu. I wasn't as used to it as I was using my waterbending to heal, but I was too afraid to use my waterbending right now. I used my other hand to trace my nose, finding the place where it had been fractured. It seemed to be a clean break. I braced myself for pain and quickly reset it. I yelped in pain.

"Damn, that hurt." I mumbled as I used my other hand to start to heal it. I stopped when the pain subsided into a dull throb. I looked at my burns through the holes in the fabric of my pants made by Sasuke's fireball jutsu. I looked at the puffy red flesh and I cringed. It looked pretty nasty. Pieces of the pant leg that hadn't burned away were stuck to the sticky gross flesh of my burnt leg. It was kind of like it fused with the skin when I was burned. I opened one of the many compartments on my belt and took out a pair of clean tweezers. I carefully picked out the pieces of cloth before using medical ninjutsu on my leg to heal it some. I could have used more chakra to heal the burns and my nose completely, but I figured I should help Sasuke and fix his face. I sighed and got up. My stomach was still sore from his punch. I slowly walked over to Sasuke and sat down beside him.

"I'm sorry." I whispered to him.

"Hn."

I huffed. "Look, I'm trying to apologize okay? Now are you willing to let me heal your nose?" I asked him holding up a green chakra covered hand.

"Hn." was the only verbal response I got, but he did turn his face toward me. I reached the hand that wasn't coated in healing chakra to his face and he automatically moved his head away. I groaned in frustration.

"I have to inspect the injury first, dumb-dumb." I explained. He looked at me with narrowed eyes for a moment before bringing his head back to its original position. I traced my fingers lightly down the ridge of his nose quickly finding the break. It also seemed to be a clean fracture that I could heal.

"This might hurt a little bit." I warned as I grabbed his nose and set it back into place. I saw him clench his fists, but he made no audible sound that showed he was in pain. I took my chakra covered hand and began to heal his nose.

"Let me know when it feels normal again, okay?" I told him. I wasn't expecting an answer and I didn't get one. After a very short while of using medical ninjutsu on Sasuke he grabbed my wrist and tugged it away from his face. I guess that's his way of saying he didn't need anymore healing.

"I would suggest not doing anything that might get your nose injured again for a while just in case." I suggested. "Does anything else hurt?" I asked the Uchiha. I saw his cheeks turn a dark pink. My furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. What injury did I cause that would cause him to turn pink. I looked at Sasuke to see him staring off in some random direction. It clicked. Ohhh. My eyes dropped down to his lap before quickly looking elsewhere. I could feel my own face turn red.

"Sorry Sasuke I can't help you there. I-I mean I guess I technically _can _but I don't think you would want me to." I stammered. It would just be so weird and awkward having my hand hover above his groin. Plus I think Sakura would blow a gasket if she saw that. I looked at Sasuke to see his face turn an even brighter red. His reddening face caused me to turn even redder. I whacked him in the shoulder.

"You do you pervert!" I yelled. I couldn't believe Sasuke was such a perv. I started to laugh.

"What?! Who's a pervert Sumiko-chan?" Naruto asked. The blond had completely abandoned his spar with Sakura and was now directly in front of us.

"Well you see Naruto, I have recently discovered that Sa-" I was cut off by a hand being placed over my mouth.

"Don't you say a word." Sasuke hissed darkly.

"What were you going to say Sumiko-chan!?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Naruto?! You don't just walk away in the middle of a fight!" Sakura yelled, clearly irritated with Naruto. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when she glanced my way though.

"S-Sumiko! Why are you so close to my Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura shrieked in horror. I swear that girl almost had a heart attack. I glanced at the boy she had mentioned to find his frown even deeper than usual. I guess he didn't take too well to having a boy crazy thirteen year old girl calling him hers. Frankly, I didn't blame him.

I pried the Uchiha's hand off my mouth so I could speak clearly. "Just asking Uchiha here if any other injuries needed any medical attention since I fixed his nose." I calmly explained to her. She looked like she was about ready to explode.

Before she could respond, Kakashi interrupted. "It's obvious to me that this team really needs to work on their ability to focus. Some of you focus too much," the jonin looked directly at me, "and some of you focus too little." this time he looked at Naruto. He sighed. "Judging by the events that have already taken place, I don't think we'll really achieve anything today in training, so I'll do us all a favor and cut it short. Meet at the Hokage Tower at 8 o'clock sharp tomorrow morning."

We gennin all just kind of stood there not knowing what to do.

"Uhh, okay I guess. What are we supposed to do now?" I asked out loud.

"You, Sumiko, will be headed straight home." Kakashi said sharply before using a jutsu to flicker away. I cringed at his voice. I knew that tone, I was in trouble. I am not at all surprised though, considering what happened just several minutes ago. I would have been surprised if I wasn't in trouble.

"Ooooh, you're in trouble." Naruto teased.

"I know. If you all don't hear from me in a few days, go ahead and presume that I'm dead." I told them. I looked up at the sky and frowned. It was such a beautiful day and I was going to spend it explaining what happened during my spar with Sasuke and figuring out ways to make sure it doesn't happen again. I stood up and started to walk away. After walking halfway across the training area I stopped and turned my head back.

"I really am sorry!" I called out. I heard a familiar "hn" sound as I turned around and kept walking. I wasn't really fluent in deciphering the different meanings of the monosyllabic language Sasuke Uchiha seemed to speak but I think that one meant "I know" or something along those lines.

It was very silent when I entered the house. If it wasn't for the familiar feeling of Kakashi's chakra I would have thought the house was empty. I made my way over to the couch directly in front of the one Kakashi was in and sat there. Several moments passed by filled with nothing but silence. Finally, someone spoke.

"What happened out there Sumiko? You looked like you were about to kill him." Kakashi asked. I could tell his voice was full of concern. I shook my head.

"I'm not exactly sure, one moment I was completely fine the next moment the only thing running through my mind was 'eliminate the enemy'. I didn't even realize what was going on until I heard Naruto's voice call out." I told him truthfully. I wrapped my arms around myself.

"I don't like what I did Kakashi. It's not the fact that I used my waterbending to hurt somebody, it's the fact that I used it to hurt a _friend_. I was sent here to protect my friends not to hurt them." I cried.

The silver haired man sighed. "What was the last thing you remember before going into that trance. Maybe something triggered it?" Kakashi inquired.

The questioning went on for while. "You said this didn't happen when you trained with Sakura, correct?" Kakashi asked to be sure. I nodded my head.

"Yes, as far as I know, this is the first time I've ever reacted this way."

Kakashi sighed. "For now, until I can figure out more about what happened I'll keep you away from sparring with Sasuke."

I looked outside a window to see it was starting to get late. "Kakashi, do you mind if I run down to the market to pick a few things up for dinner before the vendors close?" I asked him. Kakashi nodded. I quickly went to my room to grab my wallet and ran off to the market.

Hmmm, okay. I need to get some asparagus, onions, and shrimp. Do we have bacon? I should have checked if we had any before I left. I was so absorbed in my thoughts about the things I needed to get that I didn't notice myself run into someone.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." I apologized.

"You don't have to apologize to me Sumiko-chan."

I looked up to see Naruto standing there. "Oh Naruto-kun! I'm sorry for running into you. I guess I was so caught up in thinking about what I would need to make dinner tonight." I laughed. As soon as I said the word dinner, I heard Naruto's stomach let out a huge growl.

"Eh hehe. I guess it is almost dinner time huh?" Naruto laughed nervously. I smiled.

"Naruto-kun, would you like to come over to my house for dinner tonight?" I asked the blond.

"You want me to come over to your house?" Naruto asked cautiously.

"Of course Naruto! We are friends aren't we?" I told him. I could see tears glisten in his eyes. Oh no, had I said something wrong?

"You really mean it Sumiko-chan?!" Naruto cried out.

"Uhh, do I mean what exactly?" I asked confused. What exactly was he talking about.

"That we're friends!"

"Of course we're friends Naruto!" I reassured him. Why would he think that we weren't friends. It clicked. Oh, that's right. People seemed to shun and avoid Naruto for some reason. All of a sudden I was pulled out of my thoughts and was swept up into a tight hug.

"You're the best Sumiko-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. He squeezed me tight then let me go. "I've never been over to someone else's house for dinner!"

"Well first I have to get some things so I can actually make dinner." I smiled. I started walking toward the marketplace again. "Come on Naruto you can help me carry the bags." I laughed.

We had gotten pretty much everything I needed fairly quickly and without any trouble. All that was left to get was the asparagus. We made our way over to Kenji's vegetable cart to buy it.

"Hello Kenji-san, I just need some asparagus please." I bought a lot of my vegetables from this man, so I wasn't expecting his harsh glare.

"You can't have any of my vegetables." he hissed.

"What do you mean I can't have any?!" I growled. "I'm one of your best customers!"

I watched as the man's hateful gaze drifted over to Naruto. "I refuse to sell anything to anyone who keeps such horrible company."

I glanced at Naruto to see him frown. I turned back to the vegetable man with a new hate. I grabbed him by the collar roughly. "You are a worthless and despicable human being. He is just a child. Naruto has never done anything to deserve the treatment you and other scum like you give him." I let the man go and he fell back onto his vegetable cart causing it to collapse. Various kinds of vegetables went flying everywhere. I made no move to help him.

"Come on Naruto, I bet Kouji-san will sell us some asparagus." I said while grabbing his hand and leading him over to another cart.

"Hello Kouji-san." I greeted the man at the cart.

"Hello Sumiko-chan, how may I help you and your friend today?" the older man asked with a kind smile.

"I'd like some asparagus please." I told him.

"Of course!" he said kindly. I paid for the asparagus and bid the man goodbye. We were walking back to my place when Naruto finally spoke.

"Hey Sumiko-chan, you didn't have to do that you know. I'm used to that." he said quietly. I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"You shouldn't have to be used to it. I know that feeling, and I know it hurts. I know it hurts really bad." I said remembering the cruel words and actions of the people back in the Northern Water Tribe.

"Remember how I told you all about the place I was from? I know what it feels like for people to not want anything to do with you. Granted, our situations aren't exactly the same but I refuse to let any of my friends be treated that way." I told him.

Dinner with Naruto was amusing. It was full of talk of future training and missions along with other things that had nothing to do with ninja life. For instance, I found out that Naruto likes to garden. After Naruto went home Kakashi even admitted that he was pretty amusing and agreed with my idea that we should have him and the rest of Team Seven over for dinner sometime.

* * *

**TRAINING WITH SAKURA!**

"Good morning Sakura!" I called cheerfully to her approaching figure. Today was our first day of my private training sessions with her.

"Sumiko I know I asked for your help and all, but don't you think it's a little too early? I mean it's not even fi..." she trailed off and stared at me with wide eyes.

"WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!" she asked horrified. Her jaw had dropped to the floor and her eye began to twitch. I looked down to what I was wearing. It was a green jumpsuit with the orange leg warmers to match like the ones Gai-sensei and Rock Lee wore.

"What? I like it. It fills me with the power of youth!" I exclaimed. Something about this jumpsuit made me feel much more determined and energetic. I asked Gai-sensei why it was once and he said I was feeling the power of youth.

"You're not going to make me where one of those are you?" the pinkette asked nervously.

"The jumpsuit, no. You will have to wear these though." I told her as I held up leg weights. "Right now, they're only about twenty-five pounds each, so you should be okay." I told her nonchalantly as I handed them over to her.

"But that's fifty extra pounds Sumiko!" she complained.

I narrowed my eyes at the girl. "Look, you asked for my help didn't you?" she nodded her head nervously.

"If you want my help we do things my way. This is the training I went through and you'll do the same." I said to her sternly. I saw her her face mold into one of determination. I smiled at her.

"Alright! Let's get started!"

*Sakura POV*

"First off we'll do three hundred push-ups! Then we'll do five hundred sit ups and one hundred laps around the village! And then we'll come back and do..." I listened to Sumiko list off what we were going to do today. She's absolutely crazy! She's going to kill me!

"Let's go Sakura!" she called happily as she jumped to the ground and quickly began to do push-ups.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. I shook my head. No! I can't think like that! I have to get stronger! Cha!

We were finally on our last lap around the village when a green blur ran zoomed past us shouting "feel the power of youth!"

My eyes followed the green clad figure until they disappeared. I'm getting the feeling that that was a person Sumiko-chan had trained with. I looked to Sumiko who had a new fire in her eyes.

"Let's go Sakura! Let's make this our fastest lap yet! We must get stronger! FEEL THE POWER OF YOUTH!" Sumiko cried out as she ran faster than I've ever seen. I narrowed my eyes eyes in determination. I don't know about this whole power of youth thing, but I am determined to get stronger. I pumped my legs faster than I had all day.

"Cha! I will become stronger!"

* * *

**There's chapter 4! Sorry for the choppy ending and that it was pretty much filler. Hopefully it wasn't too bad. Next chapter will get back on track with the story line. **

**Please REVIEW! Reviews really help me out. **

**Thanks for reading!**


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